1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for the production of L-carnitine acid by biotechnical methods.
2. Prior Art or Related Art
The production of L-carnitine from .gamma.-butyrobetaine is known. The .gamma.-butyrobetaine is brought into contact with a hydroxylase-enzyme, liberated from spores of Neurospora crassa (U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,618), in the presence of sodium-2-oxoglutarate, a reducing agent, an iron ion source and a hydroxyl group donor solvent. Such process has the disadvantages of needing a multiplicity of co-factors. Thus, stoichiometric quantities of 2-oxoglutarate are decarboxylized oxidatively to succinate. Fe.sup.2+ is needed as the O.sub.2 -activator, ascorbate is used in order to keep the iron in the reduced form, and catalase is needed to destroy the harmful H.sub.2 O.sub.2.
Lindstedt et al., "The Formation and Degradation of Carnitine in Pseudomonas.revreaction. (Biochemistry 6, 1262-1270 (1967)), isolated a microorganism of the species Pseudomonas which grows with .gamma.-butyrobetaine as a C- and N-source. The first reaction of the composition path was the hydroxylation of the .gamma.-butyrobetaine to L-carnitine, whereupon the intermediately developing L-carnitine was further catabolized completely into CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 O and NH.sub.3.
If such microorganism was used for the production of L-carnitine, such hydroxylase obtained from bacteria would also have the disadvantageous co-factor-requirements described by Lindstedt et al., "Purification and Properties of .gamma.-Butytrobetaine Hydroxylase from Pseudomonas sp. AK 1", Biochemistry 16, 2181-2188, (1977).